Summary The United States fishing vessel COURAGEOUS, which was proceeding from Gig Harbour, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska, at the start of the fishing season, capsized in the early hours of 20June 1995 while transiting Johnstone Strait. The vessel is believed to have been caught in a tide rip off Edith Point. As the capsizing was sudden and unexpected, only a partial distress message could be broadcast. One of the six crew members, who was sleeping in a bunk within the forecastle, was trapped in the capsized hull and lost his life. The vessel was salvaged and taken to Campbell River, B.C. It was docked and readied for towing to the United States, where it was subsequently taken. Other Factual Information Particulars of the Vessel The COURAGEOUS is a single-screw, steel, purse seiner. There is a raked stem, good sheer and a transom stern. The house is well forward and, inside it, there is a narrow spiral ladder on the starboard side leading to the engine-room and the forecastle space which has four bunks, two on each side. This ladder is the only escape from the forecastle area. A step ladder, also inside the house, leads up to the lower stateroom, which houses the master's bunk. The main wheel-house, which is above this level, was added to the vessel by a previous owner some time after she was built, thus increasing the height of the accommodation. A fish hold, with a raised aluminium hatchway which is non-watertight, is situated abaft the house. Further aft, there is a lazarette accessed by a flush aluminium deck plate which can be locked watertight onto the deck. The deck equipment consists of an A-frame support with cross-tree saddle for stabilizer poles. Abaft the house, there is a steel mast with a boom and power travelling block. The boom and deck winch were replaced in 1993 and several other modifications were subsequently carried out to the forecastle and engine-room. The power travelling block on the boom was modified in 1994, and this was the first season it was to be used. No stability tests were carried out following the structure modifications. The skipper of the vessel had considerable fishing experience, having served as a deck-hand on various vessels from an early age, and on the COURAGEOUS for the last three fishing seasons. He had been through the inside passage of British Columbia many times in the past years. The remaining five crew members aboard the vessel all had varied amounts of fishing experience except for one, who was on his first trip. The vessel was documented as a Fishery Coastwise Vessel and hence exempted from inspection by the United States Coast Guard (USCG). However, the vessel was required to conform to USCG requirements regarding safety equipment. The vessel had a valid recent certificate of insurance dated 03May 1995, although the most recent survey for these purposes was done in 1992 before some of the changes to the vessel had been made. Two crew members had completed a safety course sponsored by the USCG. None possessed any certificate of competency nor were any required in accordance with USCG requirements whereby the master need only be certificated in vessels over 200 gross registered tons (GRT). The COURAGEOUS was bound for Ketchikan to fish for salmon in the first opening which was on 25June 1995. She had a seine skiff and two jet skis on deck. She sailed out of Gig Harbour at 2230(1) on 18June, and on 19June, she was proceeding north through the inside passage. At the time of sailing, the fuel tanks were full with about 7,600 litres of fuel and the draught was 2m forward and 2.4m aft. The vessel was at her service speed of about 8.5 knots and the stabilizer poles were extended although the paravanes were not down. It was reported that the fish hold, which had been filled before sailing, was deballasted on the evening of the 19June in accordance with the skipper's orders. A logbook entry states that the fish hold was drained, but the crew confirmed that the fish hold was not deballasted completely as it was nightfall and no one had checked the hold, which was full of nets, to verify the amount of sea water remaining. The hatch cover had been attached loosely to the hatch opening so that the nets could protrude from the fish hold onto the deck. The lazarette remained dry and was found empty when the vessel was inspected after salvage. The skipper remained on the bridge while the vessel transited Seymour Narrows and thereafter handed the con over to the two crew members who had come up for their watch. One of them was an experienced deck-hand and the other was on his first trip. The new crew member was steering under the supervision of the older experienced deck-hand. The skipper went down to sleep in the stateroom at about 0145 on 20June while the vessel was in the northern part of Discovery Passage. At about 0335, when the vessel was entering Johnstone Strait, a progressive starboard list developed as the vessel was reportedly caught in a tide rip. As downflooding of the engine and forecastle area occurred, the vessel further heeled to starboard and capsized in a few minutes. The skipper, awakened by one of the deck-hands on watch, had time to send only a partial distress message on channel 16 of the very high frequency (VHF) radio at 0339 before giving orders to abandon the vessel and barely managing to exit the wheel-house himself as the vessel capsized. The skipper remembered calling to the helmsman to turn the wheel to starboard just before the vessel capsized. The engines were still running at full speed and they stopped on their own some time after the capsizing. The two crew members in the wheel-house got out through the port wheel-house door and two other crew members, who were asleep, one in the house and the other in the port forecastle bunk, escaped via the after galley door. However, the crew member who was sleeping on the starboard bottom bunk of the forecastle did not escape the capsizing vessel. All the crew members who managed to escape were in their underclothes and none could don any survival gear due to the suddenness of the capsizing. They clung to the hull of the capsized vessel which drifted and grounded off Edith Point. The Mayday call, which did not have the name or position of the calling vessel, was heard by the Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) Centre at Comox. A search was launched by the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) cutter POINT RACE and other vessels in the vicinity which had been travelling north with the COURAGEOUS. Five crew members were rescued from the overturned hull of the COURAGEOUS after a passing cruise vessel saw them at dawn and directed searchers to the area. The body of the sixth crew member was recovered at 1710 by commercial divers who found the body in the starboard lower bunk within the forecastle. Earlier efforts to recover the body had been unsuccessful when one of the Search and Rescue technicians of the CCG Rescue Squadron became trapped by debris while trying to enter the COURAGEOUS and lost his breathing apparatus. He was rescued by his partner. The cause of death of the crew member was attributed to hypothermia and drowning. No signs of impairment by drugs or alcohol were detected on the surviving crew members by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who arrived on the scene and took statements soon after the rescue. The weather through Discovery Passage and Johnstone Strait consisted of north-westerly winds of 20 to 30 knots. The tidal current in the early hours of the 20June 1995 was ebbing which renders flows in a northerly and a westerly direction in Seymour Narrows and Johnstone Strait respectively. Based on the Canadian Tide and Current Tables and the Sailing Directions, the maximum ebb current (2 to 5 knots) off Ripple Point occurred at 0320 on 20June. This is about the time at which the COURAGEOUS ran into difficulty and capsized at that location. The COURAGEOUS was found to have on board the safety equipment and publications required for a fishing vessel of that size. The equipment had been maintained and serviced in accordance with the requirements and was in apparent good order. After the vessel was salvaged, she appeared to comply with the relevant sections of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. However, the vessel's liferaft and the 406MHz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) failed to be of any use when required because the hydrostatic mechanism holding them to the vessel did not release fully. After the capsizing, the COURAGEOUS was salvaged and taken to Campbell River, B.C., and was later towed back to Washington State in the United States of America. She now awaits sale. To date (September 1996), the owner has not carried out stability tests.